FAQ’s

What book did you first publish?
I published Weak for Him in January of 2014. I have written other things such as a 65k word YA Paranormal Romance novel that will NEVER be published. I somewhat fooled around with the idea of writing a NA PNR (if you stalk Wattpad hard enough, you’ll find it), and I tinkered with a few ghost stories. Weak for Him was the first novel that I ever felt was worthy of publishing. I’ve been around but was honing my skills!

Do you have any advice for other debut authors?
Write. Don’t get involved in a gazillion social media sites. Choose which ones you like and be HUMAN. I cannot stress it enough. Don’t spam about your novels, no one likes that. Make sure your novel has had several sets of eyes on it before you publish. Find beta readers (that you trust who are honest), hire a great editor and proofreader. Don’t make crazy deadlines that you can’t meet. There will be enough setbacks to fight through as you write so don’t be the one that holds YOU back. Focus on writing first!

What’s your “secret” to having people buy your novels?
I’ve been asked this a million times on Facebook in private messages. If I have a secret, it’s a secret to even me. It’s a lot of hard work, dedication, and determination combined with an interesting story and some really amazing readers. For some to think I have a “secret” discredits that completely. Not the answer you wanted? How about.. I sleep naked every night. If you do that, I swear you’ll have a million adds on goodreads and people will want to read your book!

Can you critique or beta my novel?
I would love to read your novel, seriously, but I really don’t have any extra time. My schedule is crazy hectic with writing plus my many hobbies, and a day job. I’m afraid I wouldn’t finish it within the next 6 months or even year which wouldn’t be very helpful if you want to publish any time soon. Search online, there are tons of people out there who want to beta and/or critique.

You’ve said openly that you don’t read in the romance, erotica, contemporary genre. How can you publish if you don’t know what’s out there?It’s true. Everyone always talks about these amazingly big authors who wrote best selling novels with sex and romance, and I don’t always know who they are. I know more now since I have been involved in the literary scene, but when I was just a reader I couldn’t tell you who ____insert incredibly popular author’s name here_____. I loooooooved to read YA (I am such a nerd). I was a part of the Harry Potter generation and never really grew out of it. To me, there is something magical about losing yourself in a world that doesn’t exist.

On a side note: I think it’s somewhat of a good thing that I don’t read a lot of books in the genre I write in because that means other authors words aren’t seeping into my own writing. So with that being said, I hope I’m not too far off!
Some of my favorite authors are: Darynda Jones, Karen Marie Moning, JK Rowling, Cassandra Clare, Lauren DeStafano, Richelle Mead, Deborah Harkness, and manyyyyy more!

Can I have a free copy of your novel? Can you send me a paperback to review?
Before each novel is published, I have advanced e-copy sign-ups and take a limited amount of requests. Keep an eye out for those! All I ask is for you to leave an HONEST review on goodreads and amazon whenever it goes live. No blog is required. If you miss signups, don’t fret! I try to publish as soon as it’s been through the official Lyra process. I promise it’s worth the wait! If you’d like a paperback, I sometimes do contests on my Facebook page and during release parties. If you really want one, I sell them on the site and they are signed.

Would you ever sign with an agent?
This is always a really hard question for me. I think every author has that dream agent, the one that if they were called and offered a sweet deal, they would sign it right away. I don’t like to draw a line in the indie author / big 5 sand because that’s not who I am. Authors are authors, regardless of how they are published. It seems these days there are several neo-indie authors, meaning they have a fancy contract with a big publisher but also have self-published works. I would love something like that!

Are you a full-time writer?
I wish! If that ever happened, I would be living the dream! I currently work at a Top 10 Fortune 500 company. Yup, it’s totally corporate and all that fun stuff! I have two degrees: Economics, Finance, and really do pimp slap spreadsheets all day long. I have two different personas: accountant by day and writer by night. One day I hope it will be writer by day and night.

When you’re not writing, what do you do for fun?
I love to road bike or go trail riding (there are no mountains in Texas). I am a trek girl and really love my bikes. I also enjoy camping and spending time with the Hubs. There is something wonderful and refreshing about being in the great outdoors especially with the person you love. While hiking, I first decided to write a novel, and really committed to it so it’s kind of special to me. Mother nature and I are tight, and when I am not writing, I am totally outside enjoying myself. #yolo

How do I get in touch with you?Eeeeeep! lyraparish(at)gmail(dot)com or you can message me on Facebook 🙂